Every year of major international competitions, there is a ritual that begins even before the ball rolls: the race for sticker cards, but this year the fever is even more intense.
As soon as the national championships enter the final stretch, collections spanning generations take off, fueled by exchanges between friends, organized meetings and even communities dedicated to collecting.
The phenomenon has gained such dimension that it now also lives in the digital world.. On the YouTube platform, videos of opening sachets and filling out booklets are multiplyingsome led by creators specializing exclusively in football cards.
But completing a Collection continues to be a test of patience and… your wallet. The 2026 World Cup edition promises to be the most demanding ever.
The evolution is clear. Em 1970, 270 stickers were enough to close the first official record of a World Cup.
There have never been so many nerds
Since then, the number has continued to grow: 597 stickers in 2006, 638 em 2010, 639 em 2014, 682 em 2018 e 670 em 2022. Now, the 2026 edition soars to unprecedented levels 980 cards.
The jump is explained by the new tournament format, which goes from 32 to 48 teams. More teams mean more players, more pages to fill and, inevitably, more money spent.
Sachets are more expensive than ever
Sachets also suffered a historic increase. For the first time, they cost more than one euro: went from 40 cents in 2006 to R$1.50 in 2026, an increase of 275%.
Even so, bring more stickers, seven instead of fivewhich causes the unit price rises just one cent compared to the World Cup in Qatar.
How much does it cost to complete the collection?
At first glance, the accounts seem simple: 980 stickers at 21 cents each would cost around 210 euros. But this perfect scenario, without repeats, exists practically only in theory.
In practice, the duplicate stickers turn the mission into a game of resistance. A calculation developed by Paul Harper, Professor of Mathematics at Cardiff University, estimates that it would take more than seven thousand stickers to complete the collection without exchanges. Translated into sachets, this would represent about 1,574 euros.
Can the collection be finished without any exchange?
But the math doesn’t always match actual experience. A British YouTuber specializing in stickers guarantees that you have completed the entire booklet without changing a single chrome and spending “just” 603 euros. The last chromium appeared after 402 opened sachets.
Still, the numbers show how rare stickers make final costs soar. Nas first 100 sachetsthe collector almost completed the booklet.
Already the last empty spaces proved to be the most expensive: there were times when every chrome was missing ended up costing more than seven euros in successive attempts.
There is an alternative to exchanges but… it comes at a cost
To avoid this final lottery, there is an alternative: order the missing Panini stickers directly.
The brand allows you to order up to 250 individual stickersalthough this option will only become available some time after the launch of the collection. THE price per chrome is higher than normalbut it can compensate for the waste of opening sachet after sachet with no guarantee of success.
In the end, completing the World Cup record continues to be much more than a simple collection. It’s a habit that mixes nostalgia, competition and obsessionand which, this year, could reach costs worthy of a true transfer market.
